Exuding a captivating air despite its simplicity, twigs is where she should be in this video: the focus of our unrelenting attention.
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Emerging, seemingly out of nowhere, last week was the latest release from the ever-enigmatic FKA twigs. ‘Good to Love’ softly shimmers with a vulnerability that differs from the usual postmodern brash entanglements of twigs’ music, procuring a more accessible and slightly more stripped back sound.
Where twigs’ music is enticingly experimental, so too are her music videos. Nowhere more does the term visual art apply than in relation to twigs, with her visual work layering deeper resonance upon her music. Her 16 minute video for her M3LL155X EP glittered with tips for the best music video of 2015, with twigs being credited for her constant challenging of the male gaze, postmodern contorting effects and daring experimentation. With this considered, the ‘Good to Love’ video, with its soft greyscale and one setting, may seem a little… boring. But that’s not a term that can be applied to twigs.
Essentially, the video sees twigs tangled up in the sheets of her bed, at times gently moving and others developing a sort of sleepy, entrancing dance. Striking is the first image of twigs’ feet as she gently croons the opening line, “I pray for you” and slides her feet underneath the white duvet. The video gives privilege to the folds and creases of the duvet, focusing on the shadows and movement that mirror the folds and creases of human skin. This may seem odd, but there is something fascinating about the soft movements of a duvet when combined with the ethereal notes of twigs’ vocals. The focus on the duvet additionally works to withdraw twigs from our gaze, hiding her and only allowing her to appear in fragments, reflecting the enigmatic fragmentation associated with the artist. As twigs plunges into the chorus of the track, camera movements become quick, with sharp, swooping crane shots from above the bed documenting a frantic tension in ‘Good to Love’ that might otherwise go unnoticed. With the quick shots comes a sense of desperation and vulnerability, mirrored by the lyrics, “when you give yourself away it always hurts too much.”
The part twigs herself plays in this video is undeniably captivating. Once allowed to see more than a fragment of the artist, her nude form (aside from hands embellished with rings and black banded tattoos around her arms) arrests your attention. Every movement seems articulated with thought and fluidity, promoting an appreciative, but not objectifying gaze. As ever, twigs’ body comes to be a site of her art in a way that not many other artists could hope to achieve.
In ‘Good to Love’ video FKA twigs presents herself in a seemingly stripped back way: alone, nude and tangled among the folds of a duvet. This perfectly captures the soft vulnerability that is present in the lyrics of the track, creating a video just as visually arresting as her other forms.
‘Good to Love’ is out now via Young Turks, with the video available to watch below.
